1952–1969 · about 370,000 built · a Vauxhall car engine in a van · and the Dormobile
Drums all round for seventeen years — and the windscreen tells you which of the three CAs you have.
The CA runs a Vauxhall car engine, and that is the most useful thing to know about it. From 1952 it is the 1,508cc overhead-valve four, 52–54.8bhp, bore and stroke 79.4 × 76.2mm — the same unit the Vauxhall Wyvern EIX took in April 1952. From 1964 it goes to 1,594cc, matching the Vauxhall Victor FB, which had made the same move in September 1963. Perkins diesels were optional. Brakes are hydraulic drums all round, 9in front and rear — and we will say plainly that the sources name different makers for them, so the 9in size is safe and the Girling-or-Lockheed question is not. Suspension is independent at the front on double wishbones and coil springs with an anti-roll bar, and semi-elliptic leaf at the rear — seven leaves on the 10–12cwt vans, eight on the 15–17cwt. Three-speed box at first with a four-speed optional later, Borg & Beck 8in single dry plate, semi-floating hypoid rear axle, Burman recirculating-ball steering.
There are three visual generations and the front glass is the tell. The 1952 to about 1958 car has a two-piece flat windscreen and a split painted grille. From about 1958 to 1964 it is a single curved windscreen with a smaller unsplit painted grille. From 1964 to 1969 the windscreen is deeper, the scuttle lower and the grille is pressed aluminium alloy. There is one more change that catches people, and it is underneath: in September 1960 the wheels went from 15in to 13in, dropping the load floor an inch to 1ft 11in and lifting the payload, with new axle ratios, lower gearbox ratios, revised steering geometry, new steel-backed big-end bearings in the 1.5-litre and a redesigned instrument panel with a combined ignition and starter switch. And then there are the campers: Martin Walter of Folkestone built the Dormobile on the CA, the first with gas stove, sink, cupboards and convertible seats appearing in 1957, in Porthole, Romany and glassfibre coachbuilt Debonair forms.
Bedford CA Van — specification & changes within the model
- Brakes
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Hydraulic drums all round, 9in front and rear, the whole run. No source says the CA was ever offered with a front disc. The drum size is solid; the maker is not — one spec database calls the system Lockheed in one line and Girling in another. If the make matters for your order, ask us.
- Engine — a Vauxhall car unit
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1,508cc OHV four from 1952, 52–54.8bhp, 79.4 × 76.2mm — the Vauxhall Wyvern EIX engine. 1,594cc from 1964, matching the Victor FB. Perkins diesel optional.
- Which CA is it — look at the windscreen
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Two-piece flat screen, split painted grille = 1952 to about 1958. Single curved screen, smaller unsplit painted grille = about 1958 to 1964. Deeper screen, lower scuttle, pressed aluminium alloy grille = 1964 to 1969.
- September 1960 — 15in wheels become 13in
- Load floor down an inch to 1ft 11in, payload up, axle ratios 4.625 standard with 5.286 and 4.111 alternatives, lower gearbox ratios, revised steering geometry, new steel-backed big-end bearings in the 1.5-litre, and a combined ignition-starter switch on a redesigned panel.
- Suspension
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Front independent — double wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar. Rear semi-elliptic leaf: seven leaves on 10–12cwt, eight on 15–17cwt. The leaf count follows the payload, not the year.
- Electrics
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12 volt. One spec database gives positive earth and nothing corroborates it, so treat that as unconfirmed and check your own van. The same source lists a starter as Lucas M35G-1, M45G on the diesel.
- Dormobile
- Built by Martin Walter of Folkestone. The first fully fitted CA Dormobile — gas stove, sink, cupboards, convertible seats — came in 1957. The CA range was the Porthole, the Romany early and late, and the glassfibre coachbuilt Debonair. Plenty of our caravan and camper rubber suits these.
